who is the best service provider ?

Question

hi techzim

i recently returned to zim from abroad and im not at all sure about the internet service providers and what they offer and the like, and traditionally information is hard to collect in zimbabwe, with phones not answered and no brochures or such to collect and read.

IT bloggers in the country i was in frequently did side by side comparisons of packages, prices, data caps, speeds, reliability, coverage etc of both dongle based and fibre internet providers and people found these helpful.

is it possible for you to do the same ? im sure many would appreciate it

Answer 1

When it comes to internet yu myt try Telone Adsl first installment for basic package is $96 if yu don't hev a landline. Speed is ok. For mobility try africom but internationally their data is very expensive. Don't try the mobile operators they will milk yu. Ie econet, telecel and netone. Don't try powertel yu myt get max download speeds of 5kb/sec on a good day. Yu hev been warned!!!!!!!!!

Comments

Oh ok, they can install the fixed line for u as well as the ADSL in one go ? Currently i don't have a land line. Any idea how long the waiting times are to get connected ? The reason  there isnt a fixed line in the first place is that i applied 2011 sometime, filled in forms and they said theyd call to connect, and it NEVER happened

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Nah landlines take 2 or 3 days tops to install. That will cost you $20 for the installation. For the basic package of ADSL its $75 including a cell pipe 7130 moderm with 4 ethernet ports.You can have all this within a week trust me mine was done in 6 working days. Its good that Telone is working efficiently these days. Hope it will last.

Answer 2

I'm sure plenty people on this site will be happy to give you pointers if you can also provide more details as to what kind of a user you are i.e how much traffic you expect to use in a month, whether you are mobile, how much time per day and how critical your internet work is.

Answer 3

Unfortunately internet service is not as ready available as other countries where you choose according to best services or high speed with top notch support.

Here in Zim, you choose internet according to what is available around your place of work or home and also your pocket. By this l mean, you might be interested with ADSL, bt if you live in a place were there is no telephone lines, forget about it, coz they will never come any time soon to instal one.

You might choose mobility over reliability(bcoz you dont get everything as one package) bt you might notice that ISP like Africom are not in every corner of the country.

Or you might like cheaper option like PowerTel then realise that even a tortoise with broken legs can overtake you in the infor superhighway

Answer 4

The only fixed provider you get(adsl) is Telone, check prices here:

http://telone.co.zw/adsltariff.html

You need to have a landline first. l have been using there basic package and dont expect to stream youtube videos seamlessly here, otherwise its decent.

Comments

I've used their unlimited platinum package and I must say it is value for money. Streaming, downloads and skype were great. I would recommend this anytime unless you live in Milton Park where you may want to consider ZOL fibre. Come to think of it; has anyone taken up that ZOL fibre to home package.. would love to know how well it delivers.

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i'm waiting for that fiber package to roll out to our area (emerald hill) i asked for the info about fibre recently as they were digging down our street and they only quoted me for there 1mbps uncapped package ($475) i asked them why they are not offering the 10mbps packages and they said and i quote "its a different kind of setup" which could probably be roughly translated as we dont have enough infrastructure yet to withstand the increased demand completely rolling out the super fast speeds across the whole network would bring - patiently waiting though as i chew through an average of 100GB per month (and thats not through illegal downloading or youtube!....)

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or it can be translated as "we dont have anyone who can setup and maintain such a highly specialised network since we do bambazonge best effort fifo network management"

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hahaha that too

Answer 5

Is this a question or a suggestion, if it is a suggestion, i am withh you, maybe the guys at TechZim or other such providers (but TZ is the most popular) could give us a constantly updated table comparing the services and costs of such ISPs, that could be very helpful

Answer 6

uuHi guys

firstly yes it is a suggestion, tried techzims contact page but every time i tried to send the anti spam verification said the code was wrong so i asked here instead.

i need it for home use. from 6pm to 6am pretty much. im quite a heavy user, well at least i was before the speeds im getting slowed me down. currenty using powertel on my friends recommendation coz its uncapped. used to watch youtube vids, download music, movies, itunes purchases that sorta thing. sites heavy in graphic content

i dont mind fixed internet, i have half decent wifi @ work. so for home connection fixed would be ok. live in marlborough, old part around civic centre. if its gotta be capped i need something thats generous (i hear there are 1gig dongle packages, id go through that in like 2 days). hope this is helpful, pliz advise

Comments

I also live in that civic centre area, i use Africom, but only for 'viewing' pages, when it comes to vids and other data-intensive download, i do that at work (telOne ADSL, and its impressive speedwise and costs)

Answer 7

email me for brochures (VSAT-Satellite internet) godwin@afriglobal.com

Answer 8

Hi!

I concur with OP, especially with regards to it being very difficult to get any reliable information. However, instead of waiting for techzim or others to do it, we could do it ourselves. OP, you can start a new wikipedia page with the comparisons and the community here can assist in filling the blanks.

Cheers

Answer 9

Ask with any neighbour there for the best service provider...You can simply get out of your contract by informing to your SP, but they wont cancel immediately,so better you can contact any commercial vendors online like http://www.classicunlocking.com/ who will get your phone unlocked to all carriers so that you yourself can shift carrier..

Answer 10

telone is the best service provider in Zimbabwe